Türkiye Announces $14 billion Regional Development Plan for Kurdish Southeast

Türkiye's Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacir addresses the audience during a signing ceremony in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 29, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
Türkiye's Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacir addresses the audience during a signing ceremony in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 29, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
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Türkiye Announces $14 billion Regional Development Plan for Kurdish Southeast

Türkiye's Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacir addresses the audience during a signing ceremony in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 29, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
Türkiye's Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacir addresses the audience during a signing ceremony in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 29, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

Türkiye announced on Sunday a $14 billion regional development plan that aims to reduce the economic gap between its mainly Kurdish southeast region and the rest of the country.

The eastern and southeastern provinces of Türkiye have long lagged behind other regions of the country in most economic indicators including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, partly as a result of the insurgency.

Turkish Industry Minister Fatih Kacir told reporters in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa that the government would spend a total 496.2 billion lira ($14.15 billion) on 198 projects across the region in the period to 2028, according to Reuters.

"With the implementation of the projects, we anticipate an additional 49,000 lira ($1,400) increase in annual income per capita in the region," he added.

According to 2023 data, the per capita income of Sanliurfa stood at $4,971, well below the national average of $13,243.

Regarding the prospects for peace in southeast Türkiye, two Turkish lawmakers met the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan on Saturday, the first such visit in a nearly a decade, and they quoted him as indicating he might be ready to call on the group's militants to lay down their weapons.

The visit followed a call by a close ally of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Ocalan to end the PKK's 40-year insurgency, in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

The conflict between the Turkish state and PKK, now centred on northern Iraq, was mainly focused in southeast Türkiye in the past.

"Terrorism has caused great harm to eastern and southeastern regions of the country... A terror-free Türkiye will create great benefit to the region," Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said on Sunday at the event in Sanliurfa.

Türkiye and Western countries classify the PKK as a terrorist organization.



Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
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Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)

 A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 126 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region.
Rescue workers climbed mounds of broken bricks, some using ladders in heavily damaged villages, as they searched for survivors. Videos posted by China's Ministry of Emergency Management showed two people being carried on stretchers by workers treading over the debris from collapsed homes.
At least 188 people were injured in Tibet on the Chinese side of the border, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged in the barren and sparsely populated region, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In video posted by the broadcaster, building debris littered streets and crushed cars.
According to The AP, people in northeastern Nepal strongly felt the earthquake, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage, according to the country's National Emergency Operation Center. The area around Mount Everest, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the epicenter, was empty in the depth of winter when even some residents move away to escape the cold.
The quake woke up residents in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu — about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the epicenter — and sent them running into the streets.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China's Earthquake Networks Center recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes often cause more damage.
The epicenter was in Tibet's Tingri county, where the India and Eurasia plates grind against each other and can cause earthquakes strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks in the Himalayan mountains.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, the USGS said.
About 150 aftershocks were recorded in the nine hours after the earthquake, and the Mount Everest scenic area on the Chinese side was closed.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to rescue people, minimize casualties and resettle those whose homes were damaged. More than 3,000 rescuers were deployed, CCTV said.
Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was dispatched to the area to guide the work, and the government announced the allocation of 100 million yuan ($13.6 million) for disaster relief.
About 6,900 people live in three townships and 27 villages within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the epicenter on the Chinese side, state media said. The average altitude in the area is about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet), the Chinese earthquake center said in a social media post.
On the southwest edge of Kathmandu, a video showed water spilling out into the street from a pond in a courtyard with a small temple.
“It is a big earthquake," a woman can be heard saying. "People are all shaking.”